Sunday, September 28, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
The Past Week in New York
Sunday: I had dinner at Vegetarian Paradise Two (Lemon Duck) followed by Un Secret at the IFC
Monday: In the afternoon I had Soft Materials Laboratory. Afterward I went to a reading of George Bernard Shaw's 'Cesar and Cleopatra'. This was quite good, but the seats were uncomfortable. I went with a new potential friend (an older gentleman) who was introduced to me by a mutual friend from State College with the express purpose of him showing me the gay ropes of New York. Afterward we went to the bar Splash for Musical Monday. Musical Monday consisted of clips being shown on several screens of scenes from musicals (a surprising number of which I recognized). The bartenders there were frankly a little underdressed. I was scandalized.
Tuesday: French class in the evening. After this I went home and made up all my food for the rest of the week, as I was quite busy last week.
Wednesday: I left halfway through my Polymers class so that I could go see Equus. This is a play about a boy who blinds horses and has to go to a hospital to be cured. It stars Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame. He did a very good job. The play was quite good, too.
Thursday: French Class followed by a Haunted House in the evening. The haunted house tickets were free, I won them from Time Out New York. It was billed as the best haunted house in America. It was not scary whatsoever. I went with my friend Manasi and we were both disappointed. Afterward we went to a Mexican restaurant in Alphabet City that seemed quite nice. Too bad I'm never down in that area. Manasi was supposed to meet some friends immediately after the haunted house but we got done way early and she is incapable of being on time. So she suggested we get a drink. After I left Manasi, I didn't want the night to be a complete bust. So I called up my new gay mentor (who I first met on Monday) to see if he could recommend another place to me. He didn't answer. He had told me previously that on Thursday nights Splash skews young, and I vaguely remembered how to get back there so I went. It didn't skew quite as young as I would of liked and at any rate the only person I ended up talking to was much older than me. Oh well.
Friday: Went to the Chemistry happy hour. After about 40 minutes I had to leave for French. After French I returned and when the debate started we brought a projector up and watched it.
Saturday: I have done nothing today.
Monday: In the afternoon I had Soft Materials Laboratory. Afterward I went to a reading of George Bernard Shaw's 'Cesar and Cleopatra'. This was quite good, but the seats were uncomfortable. I went with a new potential friend (an older gentleman) who was introduced to me by a mutual friend from State College with the express purpose of him showing me the gay ropes of New York. Afterward we went to the bar Splash for Musical Monday. Musical Monday consisted of clips being shown on several screens of scenes from musicals (a surprising number of which I recognized). The bartenders there were frankly a little underdressed. I was scandalized.
Tuesday: French class in the evening. After this I went home and made up all my food for the rest of the week, as I was quite busy last week.
Wednesday: I left halfway through my Polymers class so that I could go see Equus. This is a play about a boy who blinds horses and has to go to a hospital to be cured. It stars Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame. He did a very good job. The play was quite good, too.
Thursday: French Class followed by a Haunted House in the evening. The haunted house tickets were free, I won them from Time Out New York. It was billed as the best haunted house in America. It was not scary whatsoever. I went with my friend Manasi and we were both disappointed. Afterward we went to a Mexican restaurant in Alphabet City that seemed quite nice. Too bad I'm never down in that area. Manasi was supposed to meet some friends immediately after the haunted house but we got done way early and she is incapable of being on time. So she suggested we get a drink. After I left Manasi, I didn't want the night to be a complete bust. So I called up my new gay mentor (who I first met on Monday) to see if he could recommend another place to me. He didn't answer. He had told me previously that on Thursday nights Splash skews young, and I vaguely remembered how to get back there so I went. It didn't skew quite as young as I would of liked and at any rate the only person I ended up talking to was much older than me. Oh well.
Friday: Went to the Chemistry happy hour. After about 40 minutes I had to leave for French. After French I returned and when the debate started we brought a projector up and watched it.
Saturday: I have done nothing today.
Friday, September 26, 2008
The Past Month In New York
I've been back for about a month now. What have I done? A list follows. (Note: To non-New Yorkers, if any of this stuff interests people take it as gentle encouragement to move here. Please!)
1.) I went to Vegetarian Paradise twice, once getting the fake duck, the other time getting the fake chicken.
2.) I saw Trouble the Water, an excellent documentary about Hurricane Katrina.
3.) I biked/walked around Summer Streets, a New York event where they shut down Park Avenue to cars so that people are allowed to walk where they please.
4.) I went to go see the revival of A Chorus Line, which has now closed. It was okay.
5.) I went to go see The Marriage of Bette and Boo, a play about a dysfunctional Catholic family, which was superb.
6.) I went to go see Hamlet, for free, up at the Cloisters. It was terrible. While there I also went into the Cloisters, which is a terrific museum.
7.) I went to the Met with my two brothers.
8.) I went to go see Starting With the Universe, an exhibit about Buckminster Fuller. It was quite fascinating. It was at the Whitney.
9.) I went to go see In the Heights with the incoming chemistry graduate students. It was good, but I did not like it as much as Richard wanted me to.
10.) I also walked across the Brooklyn Bridge with the above grad students, just after getting pizza and ice cream at Grimaldi's in Brooklyn.
11.) I also went out to the end of orientation dinner(for incoming grad students) at a terrific Italian restaurant. I wasn't supposed to go but I invited myself along and then, along with Carl who is one of them, went over the spending limit by a considerable amount. It was just the two of us at our table. We spent $117. Cait's table had five people and they spent $80 or so. It was great! Afterwards I went with Carl to the fat cat lounge and played shuffle board and ping pong.
12.) I spent labor day weekend visiting my sister and her family in Raleigh. We played tennis, picked apples and blueberries, made sushi, made pizza, and in general had a lot of fun. Although one of my nephews was very ill at the time.
13.) I went to go see Avenue Q. It was okay. It could have been funnier.
14.) I went to go see August: Osage County. This was another play about a dysfunctional family. It was too over the top. It was okay, but not as good as The Marriage of Bette and Boo.
15.) I went to go watch All the Presidents Men for free outside on a Pier near 70th street.
16.) I went on a killer bike ride through upstate New York on a bike that my brother gave me. We stopped for ice cream twice and rode within only a few miles of Connecticut and Massachusetts.
17.) I started learning French, an advantage of which is the percentage of gay guys who want to learn French. Most of them are a little young (it being an undergraduate class), but my French graduate TA is attractive. But yesterday in class he said he didn't know anything about this 700 billion dollar bailout. Maybe it could never be.
18.) I had lunch with Natalee from USF.
19.) I went to a welcome back for me/Indian indendance day party at Manasi's house.
20.) I had brunch with Melissa which was great and was graciously paid for by her and her boyfriend.
1.) I went to Vegetarian Paradise twice, once getting the fake duck, the other time getting the fake chicken.
2.) I saw Trouble the Water, an excellent documentary about Hurricane Katrina.
3.) I biked/walked around Summer Streets, a New York event where they shut down Park Avenue to cars so that people are allowed to walk where they please.
4.) I went to go see the revival of A Chorus Line, which has now closed. It was okay.
5.) I went to go see The Marriage of Bette and Boo, a play about a dysfunctional Catholic family, which was superb.
6.) I went to go see Hamlet, for free, up at the Cloisters. It was terrible. While there I also went into the Cloisters, which is a terrific museum.
7.) I went to the Met with my two brothers.
8.) I went to go see Starting With the Universe, an exhibit about Buckminster Fuller. It was quite fascinating. It was at the Whitney.
9.) I went to go see In the Heights with the incoming chemistry graduate students. It was good, but I did not like it as much as Richard wanted me to.
10.) I also walked across the Brooklyn Bridge with the above grad students, just after getting pizza and ice cream at Grimaldi's in Brooklyn.
11.) I also went out to the end of orientation dinner(for incoming grad students) at a terrific Italian restaurant. I wasn't supposed to go but I invited myself along and then, along with Carl who is one of them, went over the spending limit by a considerable amount. It was just the two of us at our table. We spent $117. Cait's table had five people and they spent $80 or so. It was great! Afterwards I went with Carl to the fat cat lounge and played shuffle board and ping pong.
12.) I spent labor day weekend visiting my sister and her family in Raleigh. We played tennis, picked apples and blueberries, made sushi, made pizza, and in general had a lot of fun. Although one of my nephews was very ill at the time.
13.) I went to go see Avenue Q. It was okay. It could have been funnier.
14.) I went to go see August: Osage County. This was another play about a dysfunctional family. It was too over the top. It was okay, but not as good as The Marriage of Bette and Boo.
15.) I went to go watch All the Presidents Men for free outside on a Pier near 70th street.
16.) I went on a killer bike ride through upstate New York on a bike that my brother gave me. We stopped for ice cream twice and rode within only a few miles of Connecticut and Massachusetts.
17.) I started learning French, an advantage of which is the percentage of gay guys who want to learn French. Most of them are a little young (it being an undergraduate class), but my French graduate TA is attractive. But yesterday in class he said he didn't know anything about this 700 billion dollar bailout. Maybe it could never be.
18.) I had lunch with Natalee from USF.
19.) I went to a welcome back for me/Indian indendance day party at Manasi's house.
20.) I had brunch with Melissa which was great and was graciously paid for by her and her boyfriend.
Dreams of Fortune
The recent California supreme court decision legalizing gay marriage (coupled with the fact that California's Novembers ballot measure to reverse it appears doomed) has highlighted a national trend. State after state is lining up to get a piece of the gay marriage action. And if New York follows suit, my childhood dream could become a reality. But only if I get the word out to the right people that I am gay. This is why I mention it so much on my blog. Marrying up is every American's dream and I am no exception. As a partial Italian, Columbia has provided a good avenue for me to marry into the mafia. Then I will be rich beyond all my wildest dreams and can finally forget all my current friends and be happy. Oh well, so much for dreams.
Final Comments About State College
State College has limited interesting people. Recall, however, that State College is in Pennsylvania. As such there are strict government limits on the number of interesting people that can live there and I blogged on most of them. It's a good thing I left when I did, because there really was no more material.
Speaking of material... The PSU material science building is called Steidle. It looks a lot like the Whitehouse from the front. Because of this a material science graduate student posted a flyer showing the building being destroyed by one of the alien ships from Independance Day.
Speaking of Steidle... Because Steidle is not in New York city, it can afford certain luxuries as compared to Havemeyer (the Columbia Chemistry building). It has a male bathroom on every floor (although like Havemeyer, it only has a female bathroom on every other floor). It has several fire exits. It has a door that remains unlocked 24/7. And... it has tons of drinking fountains.
Speaking of drinking fountains... Yum! Drinking fountains! Those were great! They meant I could cut back on drinking from my deadly nalgene water bottle, which has now been replaced by a SIGG aluminum bottle (Swiss made). I used to love that green nalgene bottle. But towards the end it always smelled funny and the plastic supposedly leeches chemicals. And the rubber on the lid turned from black to white.
Well, that about wraps it up for State College. And really, if the material on this blog was the only thing ever written about that city, it would be more than it deserved.
Speaking of material... The PSU material science building is called Steidle. It looks a lot like the Whitehouse from the front. Because of this a material science graduate student posted a flyer showing the building being destroyed by one of the alien ships from Independance Day.
Speaking of Steidle... Because Steidle is not in New York city, it can afford certain luxuries as compared to Havemeyer (the Columbia Chemistry building). It has a male bathroom on every floor (although like Havemeyer, it only has a female bathroom on every other floor). It has several fire exits. It has a door that remains unlocked 24/7. And... it has tons of drinking fountains.
Speaking of drinking fountains... Yum! Drinking fountains! Those were great! They meant I could cut back on drinking from my deadly nalgene water bottle, which has now been replaced by a SIGG aluminum bottle (Swiss made). I used to love that green nalgene bottle. But towards the end it always smelled funny and the plastic supposedly leeches chemicals. And the rubber on the lid turned from black to white.
Well, that about wraps it up for State College. And really, if the material on this blog was the only thing ever written about that city, it would be more than it deserved.
The People of State College Part Eighteen: Boring PI
Note: Before I quit talking about people from Pennsylvania, I will mention this guy.
The first floor of my apartment building I lived in this Summer had an office. On it's door hung a sign... "This is not the building office."
In fact, the office belongs to a private investigator. Your probably thinking, how exciting, right? Well, one couldn't be more wrong. I talked to this guy once while we both got our mail. He was depressing, straight laced, and all around boring. His office was messy, but not in any sort of glamorous way and it was always very bright. Maybe I'm alone on this but if I hire a PI I have certain expectations. That he smoke a cigar, sit in a dimly lit office, occasionally speak into a tape recorder. After all, one can't have just anyone spying on there loved ones. Who's with me? He won't be getting my business. I guess I'll just have to continue "checking up on" my friends myself.
The first floor of my apartment building I lived in this Summer had an office. On it's door hung a sign... "This is not the building office."
In fact, the office belongs to a private investigator. Your probably thinking, how exciting, right? Well, one couldn't be more wrong. I talked to this guy once while we both got our mail. He was depressing, straight laced, and all around boring. His office was messy, but not in any sort of glamorous way and it was always very bright. Maybe I'm alone on this but if I hire a PI I have certain expectations. That he smoke a cigar, sit in a dimly lit office, occasionally speak into a tape recorder. After all, one can't have just anyone spying on there loved ones. Who's with me? He won't be getting my business. I guess I'll just have to continue "checking up on" my friends myself.
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